All is Up in the Air
And I'm going to leave the results of this play up in the air like this soccer player and her ball. Sorry – I don't remember the result, but I love the effort I was able to capture with this setup. Play in action, face in the frame, ball in the frame, opponent giving chase, fans in the background and a cloudy day providing soft lighting. Works for me.

235mm f/2.8 1/1600s ISO 1250

Telephoto Purple Iris Image
Sports and other action get most of the wide aperture telephoto lens attention, but flowers are also great subjects for these lenses. With the narrow angle of view, a telephoto lenses does not need an expansive attractive background. And with a wide aperture creating a shallow depth of field, that background just needs good color and reasonable texture.

300mm f/2.8 1/1250s ISO 100

What I Don't Like About This Track Photo
I have a problem with one aspect of this photo. I was setup in a good position with the track circling through the frame, fans in the background, the best lighting I could get at this time and, with a little cropping, the framing I wanted. And my runner was leading. But, the missing lower leg bothers me.

I was shooting in burst mode. And unfortunately, this particular frame was captured with the front runner's knee fully bent so that the lower leg is not visible.

In this situation, fast frame rate cameras rule. Faster frame rate-capable cameras have a reduced likelihood of a missing lower leg in the ideally-timed shot. Worst case is when the camera's frame rate synchronizes with the runner's pace so that most shots are missing a lower leg.

300mm f/2.8 1/2000s ISO 100

Portrait of a Golden Retriever
Looks like an easy shot, right? Take the dog out in the late day sun with some sun-lit green grass and some darker woods behind it. Then have her sit and look at you.

Well, that sounds good until you get a camera-shy dog. Right. Figures that a photographer's dog is indeed camera-shy. A lens aimed toward her gives her a strong desire to turn her head. Thus, this picture was not as easy to get as it appears to have been.

The good news is that a 300mm f/2.8 lens can capture a really nice portrait of animals – and people too.

300mm f/2.8 1/320s ISO 100

Crops Sports Images Tightly
While there are exceptions, I typically prefer my sports images cropped tightly. In this case, I allowed enough space around the subject for breathing room, but still have a relatively tightly cropped subject.

300mm f/2.8 1/1250s ISO 100

Telephoto Daisies
When shooting flowers, consider aligning the lens so that flowers are also visible in the background. When using a telephoto lens and a wide aperture, those flowers will become a blur of color.

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